What is birth empowerment?

Empowerment is the difference between * happening to you * as something that you: consciously choose the terms of

childbirth

and birth

clearly examine your beliefs about

honestly evaluate your feelings toward

being a passive or active participant in the birth process. Obviously, we cannot always choose the

Empowerment is the difference between

circumstances under which we give birth... ome women and some babies have health from having a more naturally"oriented birth, but that does #O$ mean that they have to be passive participants in their own care. issues or ris! factors that preclude them

empowered birth is conscious choice.

&irth empowerment doesn't only apply to mamas who desire a natural birth.

$he central % essential element of an

(f anything, birth empowerment is even more important to those mamas who are high ris! style of care. $he inherent tendency of a
hospital birth is to feel that you have very little autonomy in any matters ) but only if you don*t spea! up.

and in need of a more medically"managed

Even the most medically managed birth can, contain elements that allow you to feel more human, more validated, and more empowered. +ospitals can be notorious for neglecting the human element of birth ) but that doesn't mean that there aren't incredibly caring, with the help of sensitive care providers,

dedicated, mother"friendly O&s out there, birth is guaranteed to be peaceful % -en"li!e, .ou can feel out of control % fearful about having a natural birth /#0 you can also be empowered in a hospital1medical setting. (t also doesn't mean that a midwife"attended

+ Choice is key +

&irth is inherently unpredictable.

culture, we value control very highly.

.et, in our

$han!s to imposing 2yet fairly recent3 4empowered woman5, what comes to mind is often an image of an unencumbered, youthful career woman. cultural norms, when we thin! of an

adly, mothering, and so pregnancy and limiting or even oppressive to women, than!s to our historical and cultural legacy. Our culture tends to tell women lies about lies, even by those perpetuating them. ome of these lies include the belief that childbirth as well, are now often seen as

birth""although they're not widely recogni-ed /

birth is inherently dangerous, and it's safer to 6ust turn things over to the professionals... ...that interventions are only used to protect the health and safety of the baby and mother... ...that once the baby's here safely, it doesn't matter how you gave birth.

and those of your baby""in mind and at heart more than you do.

$he thing is, no one has your best interests""

(t might be common to assume that our health to !now about birth""but the truth is that too concerned with management of ris!, to the exclusion of all else. often, many care providers are primarily care provider will tell us everything we need

$he average health care provider is busy 2if typical case scenarios, and sometimes under comply with hospital policies. enormous pressure to have their patients 7any of them not overwhelmed3, schooled in averages and

of specific, nurturing, personali-ed care that we all desire access to. (t's unrealistic to expect that an average medical professional ""especially one who wor!s in a busy hospital"" will be able or willing to properly and with pregnancy, birth and beyond. completely educate you about all things to do

simply can't be relied on to give you the !ind

While midwifery care is well"!nown for being much more thorough and nurturing with their

clients, typically spending an hour or more on each visit instead of the customary five minutes of face"time in a doctor's office"" you still cannot rely on your midwives to educate you on all the options and concerns about your birth. (n pregnancy, as well as any other time in life""health care is primarily E89"care.

:nfortunately, some care providers have no one's going to obviously get worse instead of better, and no lawsuits are going to transpire. your best interests at heart only insofar as

$his is, sadly, almost inevitable in a litigious society such as ours, and it ends up creating a sort of one"si-e"fits"all approach to birth, where what's average becomes elevated to the definition of 4normal5""and what's not average starts to be viewed as dangerous. We ought to reali-e that this sort of rigid

approach to something as organic and uni;ue as human birth patterns is nonsense at best, and dangerous at worst.

We may tal! about and even write down our birth plans""but of course, you can't 4plan5 a

birth, in all actuality.

and even in hospitals, variations and emergencies can and do occur.

Even in low"ris! mamas,

&ut instead of living in fear of emergencies happening, we can educate ourselves about personal potential for ris!s, and be able to choose for ourselves what we are comfortable with ris!ing. birth to the point that we are aware of our

(t's useful here to remember that everything that ris! is inherent in every aspect of life. in life contains some measure of ris!, and

We may have different feelings of fear or safety attached to certain courses of action or decisions, but it is a good practice to bear observations""the way we've chosen to feel about our decisions. <is!s are everywhere""by being aware of willing to ris!. =ain as the default sensation of labor / lot of childbirth classes focus on pain in mind that these are merely our

them, we can consciously choose what we're

management""and this one does touch on the concept, but in a uni;ue way. (nstead of learning about pain""we're going to be learning

about fear""and how pain arises from fear. >ery few people ;uestion why pain is the

childbirth, or whether it can be experienced differently. $he short answer is .E ""but consider for a moment, do we really want to escape the sensations of birth? (n our culture we fear pain, and that might be painful, whether

typically expected sensation of labor and

tend to shy away from anything (nstead,

physically or emotionally.

=ain""especially in childbirth""is not a sign that we are damaged. properly, sign that our body is wor!ing (t is a

we can choose to redefine pain:

=ain in other contexts, however, is something to worry about, because it signifies that something is wrong We must ;uestion, then, why and needs to be attended to.

pervasively in our culture as painful. 7any women experience childbirth as intense, as something that re;uires your full attention""but not as painful. $here are even

childbirth is experienced so

spea!ing out about orgasmic childbirth""which is worth reading about, or watching the documentary of the same name. ( don*t necessarily thin! women ought to be actively pursuing orgasm during childbirth " although some women can and do experience

a small but growing number of women

childbirth this way, whether or not they intend to, of the very wide range of what's possible hear childbirth described as a pleasurable during childbirth""and thus, to fear it. (nstead, ( mention this simply as an example +ow often do we

when it comes to birth. experience?

We are sociali-ed to expect pain

something is painful is often all that's needed to create the experience of pain.
&irth $rauma

(t's worth noting that the belief that

experienced as traumatic in many ways, for aren't often encouraged to spea! candidly some reason, the ob6ective account of what importance than the sub6ective realm of re;uire permission from a larger group of peers or experts to legitimately explore and process our feelings of loss, hurt, or pain about an experience. Even the very idea that one's feelings and health is still only 6ust starting to gain feelings and emotion. (t's almost as if we happened is deemed to be of more about or identify with their feelings. 9or many reasons " yet in our culture, women

/spects of the birth experience can be

emotions ?/# affect one's physical state of credence in the mainstream !nowledge base. categori-e everything in the world, modern experience that does not fit into a neat and simple category of explanation. ?onsider, too, that birth trauma doesn't have to involve physical harm. thought has tended to toss aside any (n our -eal to understand, ;uantify, and

(t may exist solely inside of your mind, in the realm of feelings, but that doesn't ma!e it

any less legitimate. (ndeed, perhaps the ma6ority of birth trauma involves mental and emotional harm, rather well as your mind " responds the same to fear, whether or not the danger you*re than physical. .our physiology " your body as

perceiving and fearing is real or imaginary. =ost"traumatic stress disorder, incidentally, experience any strong, unpleasant emotion the memory of circumstances that caused be triggered by similar circumstances""even that emotional state stays with you, and can 2especially for a prolonged period of time3, operates in a very similar way. (f you

if you don't have any conscious memory of the event. Women can even suffer from
= $0 from prior birth experiences, in certain circumstances.

We can even have residual, lingering trauma or perhaps if we grew up hearing stories of how mother suffered when she brought us into the world. from our own birth " either subconsciously,

(f you were born very early or with complications, had to stay in the #(?: for an

difficult family circumstances, the effect of our mother's strong emotions on our psyche can still linger, although deeply buried.

extended time, or if you were born into

@ust because we lac! words to describe fresh and new, does not mean that it didn't impact us in some way. $al! to your mother about her birth what happened to us when we were very

experiences, if you can.

9ind out how her

births went for her, how she felt about it all, and how you were cared for in the first hours and days of your life. .ou might be

surprised at the connections you will uncover with your present"day feelings, problems, and even the general way you view the world.

&irth is so deeply impactful to us socially, watching our loved ones from the sidelines, whether we are the one giving birth, or the one being born, emotionally, and physically""whether we are

A #aming your fears is the first step in transcending them A 9ear of giving birth is so commonplace

;uestion why this is the expected response. We assume that feeling fear and dread of labor as bac!ground emotions during pregnancy is a normal, natural, and inevitable to be so. We can choose to opt out of this

in our culture that many women don*t even

part of the process""but this does not have

constrictive, depressing reality and create a new one that*s not mired in fear and worry. We can wor! to explore and then replace positive feelings, such as faith in oneself, courage, strength, fortitude, and calm. ome people believe that physical problems other imbalances start from emotional dis"ease and imbalance. the bac!ground emotion of fear with more

such as disease 2literally, *dis"ease*3, illness, and

$here are many excellent tools to address your fears and heal you from the inside outB including positive affirmations, visuali-ations, guided meditations, vibrational medicine such as the &ach 9lower Essences, <ei!i and energy We will ta!e a closer loo! at many of these techni;ues further into the course. wor!, aromatherapy, and much more.

+owever, in order to begin releasing your fears, you must first identify them, confront them with courage, and allow yourself to feel deep within, and give voice to your emotions " however buried or complex they may be. A when you change the way you thin! of birth, .O: change A them clearly. &e honest with your elf, dig

?hanging .our &eliefs With =ositive /ffirmations o now that you*ve got a better handle on in a position of power to change those

what you fear and what you believe ) you are beliefs, and begin to release your fears. fixed and unchangeable, and carry around a whole set of beliefs that don*t serve them well, or perhaps actively sabotage their happiness and well"being. $here*s a little"!nown C powerful secret that (*m gonna let you in on: 7any people thin! of beliefs as something

You get to decide what you believe.

.es, really,
.ou didn*t inherit your beliefs along with your gene pool, and you aren*t loc!ed in to them li!e an overpriced cell phone contract. .ou

are free to examine anything you believe with a critical eye, and to decide for your elf whether or not that belief is healthy and supportive for you.

&elieve in your elf ) who else would truly !now what*s best for you?

$he power is in your hands, and always has been. or give your power away to someone or something else. &eing present moment"to"moment: (n many ways, our past experiences do indeed good tal! to the contrary. $he tric! is to recogni-e that now, in this start to effect and accept change. $he past is gone, the future is intangible, so this moment is really .ou get to decide if you will act on it

shape our future, even in spite of much feel"

moment, is the only point at which we can

all there is. What we call 4the past5 is really 6ust a

collection of thoughts we have about things that we've experienced. sub6ective. $hey*re not factual, unbiased $he thoughts are

We can choose to hang onto these thoughts, to let them define us and 4tell our story5, or... we can let them go.

accounts ) they*re personali-ed and uni;ue.

$here are many ways in which we fail to live are particularly helpful to us. in the present moment, very few of which good mood, we might choose to reminisce might also be rehashing our mista!es and hurts of yesterday. (f we are in a

about happier times, and if we're troubled, we

(n either of these scenarios, however, we moment, which impedes our ability to ma!e (t*s not really helpful to be constantly defining the present by what we used to thin!, do, or feel 2especially if we*re dwelling on ways we messed up,3 guilt"tripping holds us bac! from truly exploring all our options, or thin!ing $his !ind of mental nostalgia or clear decisions about whatever is at hand. are not being fully present in the current

differently without 6udgment. ?hanging our beliefs about birth, and about of consciousness. $his can be a broad,

what our body is capable of, re;uires a shift sweeping change ) but more li!ely, it will be subtle and small. (ndeed, all shifts of consciousness, if they are to 4stic!5. Eventually your thoughts, feelings and beliefs new beliefs will start to gain ground over second"guessing your elf or loo!ing to others for reassurance or validation so much. One very simple and effective way to start shifting your beliefs is by affirming the beliefs you wish to incorporate.

no matter how big, tend to start gradually

will reach a sort of tipping point, where your your old ones, and it won*t feel li!e you*re

/ffirmations are 6ust positive statements of to be fancy, complex, or poetic""6ust positive What do ( mean by *positive* statements? statements of potential truth. what you desire to be true. $hey don't have

( mean you should say,

I believe that I can birth my baby naturally instead of

I don't want to have an induction.

:se yes"statements that focus on what you no"statements that ma!e mention of what you*d li!e to avoid or change. want to create and achieve, instead of

avoid?

Why not 6ust write down what we want to cosmic search engine.

&ecause the universe operates li!e a

&eing open to many options can be good""but when writing affirmations or re"creating what you want, or want to create. beliefs, it's important to get specific about 2(ncidentally, this is 6ust as true for holiday gift giving as affirmation writing,3

$hin! of it this way:

(f you're searching for

a pair of shoes to buy on the internet, and you type in 4no tennis shoes, boots, or flip flops5 into the search box""what are your search results going to be full of?

.ou probably won't get much of anything

$ennis shoes, boots, and flip flops,

you're interested in or actually want if you mainly focus on and search for what you 0O#*$ want. $he tric! is to be specific.

$hin! of writing affirmations as if you're placing an order with the future""or filling out a gift registry.

.ou might not get exactly what you as! for"" receiving things you want if you have clarity about what you 0O want, and as! for it"" instead of merely focusing on what you don't want. <estating a fear, worry, or unwanted belief helping to weed out beliefs that !eep us affirming ones instead. /ffirmations are a wonderful tool, because li!e much of complementary, holistic there's no harm done in using them ""and the benefits are often numerable, hard to ;uantify, and far"reaching. A*A self"care techni;ues, but you've got a much better chance of

as a positive affirmation can go a long way in rooted in place, and install more 6oyful, life"

$hat*s all for this e&oo!, concepts in this session, ma!e sure you try the rest of the session D resources before you move on to session E. out the printable wor!sheets, and complete $o further explore the techni;ues and

Wishing you a peaceful, powerful birth,

~ Krystal